Promise To Move On For Me
by Pascal889
Summary: Something terrible has just happened and has the left the gaang even more divided then they thought they would be. In the wake of pain and destruction, comes a new rebirth that may mend the hurt the past caused. Set shortly after the end of the first series (before Korra).
1. Pain

It was the end of Ozai's rule, and Zuko had been named the Fire Lord just a few weeks ago. Everyone had gone their separate ways to make a future for themselves. Aang and Katara had left to help spread the peace throughout the earth kingdom before heading home to the south pole. Sokka and Suki were working together to repair the south pole and make it a great society again with the Kyoshi warriors' help. And even Toph had left to see her parents; now that she was a war hero, she hoped they would accept her and stop treating her like a fragile flower.

It almost seemed that in that moment they were never going to see each other again. It was hard to hold onto that hope when they were going to all be living worlds away. They would be extremely busy with political and personal matters.

It was a rather cool night in the fire nation when Zuko received a quiet knock on his chamber's door. It woke him from a rather deep sleep, and he tried to sleepily stumble to his door. When he opened it, there was no one there. He even scanned the halls to find that there was no single trace that a person had been there only seconds before.

Zuko was about to chalk the noise up to a hallucination in his dream when he noticed a small paper on the ground by his feet. He bent down and carefully picked it up. He turned back to his chamber and shut the door before opening it. It read:

* * *

 _Zuko... This is very urgent. I know this is bad of me to ask, seeing as you just became the Fire Lord, but I need to speak with you alone. The news I have is time sensitive, so meet me at your old home on Ember Island two days from now._

 _If you are having doubts on whether or not this is me, I know you told me about what happened with your mother, and the only other ones who know you told me about that are Sokka, Toph, and Aang._

 _I'm so sorry if this is an inconvenience, but I believe that this information will be important for you to hear._

 _\- Katara_

* * *

Zuko truly believed the letter was from Katara but became very confused. If the information was so important, why was she wanting to meet alone. Especially in such a secluded place like Ember Island. Just then, he felt a hand gently land on his shoulder. He turned to find Mai standing in her night clothes with a concerned look on her face.

"Is something wrong? You've been just standing here for a long time." Her eyebrows were knitted together, showing how she was feeling.

"No... No, it's nothing. Let's just go back to bed." Zuko said moving away from her grip to crawl under the covers. She sighed and followed behind. She turned away from him and blew out the candle she had lit when he woke up.

Against his better judgement he packed a small bag with essentials and snuck from the palace to make it to the island. When he reached the island and his old vacation home, he could see a small candle lit and waving in the wind that came from an open window. He took a deep breath and climbed his way to the door before entering the house.

"Katara? What's so urgent? And why aren't you still with Aang?" Zuko's voice was quiet and was barely audible from the other side of the room. A cold breeze ran through her hair from the open window she was sitting next to. Katara stood and turned without saying anything. She took a slow, deep breath as she tried to hold back the tears that welled in her eyes. Zuko ran to her side and pulled her into his arms. "What happened?"

"Aang... He... He's gone." She wasn't able to hold it back anymore and started sobbing into the other's chest. Zuko's eyes went wide as he processed what she said, but before he could ask her any questions, she continued through broken sobs. "We - we were ambushed *sob* by people who were upset that he defeated Ozai... He tried to fight them off but... there were too many of them..."

She trailed off. Zuko felt his heart breaking. He and Aang had become such good friends. He couldn't believe the Avatar was gone. The firebender wrapped his arms tighter around the brunette taking a deep breath. Even with his own pain, he knew that Katara had to have been feeling it even worse. Aang and her had begun dating before they left.

"Katara... I'm so sorry." Zuko said softly as he moved them to sit down. He simply held her as she cried for what seemed like hours. When she finally started to calm down, her breathing was inconsistent and littered with hiccups. She leaned away from Zuko's grip, and their eyes met. His eyebrows drew together in concern as one of his hands lifted to brush away the few tears that were still falling.

"I think I'll be okay now... I just can't believe he's gone..." Katara's gaze moved to the beach and sea that could be seen from the open window. Zuko sighed as his eyes fell to his hands that were now resting in his lap. He glanced back up at her for a moment. There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but it felt disrespectful since she was still grieving so much.

"I at least have to ask... Why did you come here?" Zuko asked as he gently scratched the back of his neck. He hoped he hadn't offended her by asking. It wasn't that he wasn't happy to see her again, it was more of why did she come to him, while she was grieving, and not Sokka. She turned to look at him with a soft sigh.

"Everyone was making me feel even worse about it. They were saying I didn't try to save him at all." She could feel the tears desperately wanting to cascade down her face again, but she took a shaky deep breath to hold them back. "I wasn't there to save him. If I had stayed with him, this wouldn't have happened. It's my fault."

Without another word Zuko wrapped his arms tightly around Katara again. He wouldn't let her blame herself for it. She loved Aang and there was nothing she could have done if they had ambushed Aang. Zuko was being so kind to her that it broke her resolve, and the tears started pouring from her eyes again.

"It's really not your fault no matter what anyone says, and it never will be. We both know that." Zuko said gently stroking her hair when he started to feel tears wet his shoulder again. Her sobs were quieted by the slightly awkward position by which he had hugged her.

They both stayed like that the rest of the night. Katara had fallen asleep in Zuko's arms from her emotional outburst. Zuko, on the other hand, had troubled sleep from the way he was pinned against the window after the waterbender had passed out. After all she had been through, he felt that she needed some sleep, and he was not going to wake her because he was slightly uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry for falling asleep on you." Katara whispered as she slowly sat up. Zuko stretched to work out the kinks left in his back. She gently rubbed at her eyes which still hurt from the crying she did the night before.

"No. It's fine. You were having a rough night. You needed a shoulder to cry on." Zuko said standing up from the bench they were sitting on. He sighed as his gaze shifted to stare out the window as if in deep thought.

"What do we do now though?" Katara asked bringing his attention back to her. Tears were slightly forming in her eyes for what seemed to be the hundredth time that week. Unfortunately, Zuko was certain that he'd say would only make matters worse.

"I think that's up to you now. " Zuko placed a hand on her shoulder softly. He hated to put this pressure on her. He wished he had all the answers and could help her through all of this, but he also knew she needed to find her own path through this pain. Little did they know that their paths were about tangle.


	2. Ambassador

Two regret-filled years passed for Katara. She had moved out to the Fire Nation this a year ago today. She had accepted the job of being an ambassador for the Southern Water Tribe. Her days were filled with constant work that kept her distracted from the pain she still held in her heart. Being far from the South Pole and the "help" from her family helped.

So much had happened during that time even with all the pain Katara was still feeling from Aang's death. Sokka and Suki had gotten married, and Toph moved to Ba Sing Se to open a school to teach metal bending.

The only really nice thing that Katara enjoyed from this new job was the fact that she was getting to spend large amounts of time with Zuko. Being ambassador had odd perks that she didn't actually expect to enjoy. He had been so supportive and kind to her throughout these past years. There was no way she could repay him for all the times he's helped her.

Zuko had asked her out to the court-yard without telling her what he was planning. Katara hesitantly agreed. He had promised, after she had started working in the palace, that he would get her to smile again. She was rather skeptical due to the fact that she couldn't even smile at her own brother's wedding that was just a few weeks ago.

Katara hated the fact that she was this depressing, but losing Aang took a lot out of her. She had surprised herself that she was able to function in any way. She was surprised that she could even show up to Sokka's wedding.

Zuko had found a few old southern watertribe scrolls that his grandfather had taken in the first raids of the 100 year war. He figured Katara would appreciate them after everything that's happened. He hoped that practicing the waterbending moves in them would also be a source of stress relief. Maybe that could make her happy.

Their bodies were forced close as Katara pulled him in with her water whip. He moved toward her too quickly and knocked them both to the ground. They blinked at each other a few times before Katara started laughing. Zuko joined shortly after. He helped her stand up.

"Now I gotta get you back for that. That was cheap. You were only supposed to use the moves in that scroll." Zuko smirked teasingly.

"I'd like to see you try. If you forget, water puts out fire. You're going to have to try really hard to get me back." Katara smirked back. She hated to admit it, but her pain almost disappeared when Zuko was around. And the first time in over two years she had a smile on her face.

Zuko raised an eyebrow with a wide smile slowly spreading on his lips. He was going to accept that challenge. He felt something swelling in his heart. It felt the exact same as when he first met Mai.

"If you say so…" Zuko turned and started to walk away. He paused before looking over his shoulder. His gaze was threatening with a sarcastic grin adorned on his face. "You should sleep with one eye open tonight."

"You think you can surprise me?" Katara moved and caught his arm. She had a teasing look on her face. He turned and both their expressions softened to sweet smiles. They loved this closeness that they were both feeling.

Something about the way her hand felt on his arm and the intensity in their gaze. Katara bit her lip softly as she looked to the side. He used his free hand to gently move her to look back at him. Deep golden eyes met light blue ones to form sweet smiles slightly lower on their faces.

Before either of them got another moment to process the blush staining the other's cheeks or the hitch in both of their breaths, Zuko connected their lips. It was deep and passionate. Katara's arms went around his neck, and Zuko's hands were on her waist. He pulled her closer to deepen the kiss before she put one of her hands between them. She gently wound her fingers into his hair.

Fireworks… That was the only word either of them could use to describe the feeling that was put into the kiss. Zuko turned his head slightly to the side and let one of his hands explore the span of her back. The kiss grew more needy as everything was forgotten in the heat of the moment.

Katara was wanting to stop it, but she couldn't bring herself to push him away. He was married to Mai. Nothing could happen between them. But the kiss was the most perfect kiss she'd ever had. Then an image of Aang popped into her head.

"Stop! We shouldn't be doing this." Katara said regretfully pulling away from him. The kiss was too good, and she knew if they let it continue, Zuko would never forgive himself. Plus the wounds from Aang still stung. She felt like she was betraying him.

"Y... You're right... I should go..." Zuko said with his head hanging low. He started to move away before a hand caught him in place. He turned to Katara who hurriedly placed a soft kiss on his cheek and left just as quickly.

Katara could never admit how much she wanted that kiss to continue. It made life too complicated. She loved Aang and still missed him, but she could also feel something growing between her and Zuko. She almost thought it was too good to be true. Not only did it feel wrong because of Aang, but he was married… Nothing was ever going to… No, nothing could ever happen.

She went back to her bedroom and flopped onto the bed. She stared up at the ceiling thinking about everything and nothing at once. It was hard to process all the emotions that were filling her mind that night.

Zuko, on the other hand, left towards the palace with a small smile plastered on his face and seemingly nothing could bring down his spirits. He bounded up and down the stairs in his way and said hi to everyone he passed. He got to his bed chamber and entered with a happy sigh. The room appeared to be empty until he saw Mai stand from sitting by the windowsill.

Zuko's unusual happiness easily caught the attention of Mai. When she approached him, his smile faltered and guilt flashed across his face. She looked down just enough to not notice his change in expression.

"What's got you so chipper today?" Mai said with a small smile. She wrapped her arms around his neck. He forced a smile to return as his wife looked up at him. She had, what could barely be called, a smile on her face. "I missed you most of the day."

"Sorry. I found some waterbending scrolls that my grandfather stole from the southern water tribe, so I gave them to Katara. She wanted to practice some of the techniques in there, so I agreed to help her." Mai's expression melted to the usual indifference she usually sported. "Is there a problem?"

"I just thought we were going to be spending the day together. It starts today if you've forgotten." Mai moved in closer to connect their lips in a soft kiss. Zuko had completely forgotten about their schedule. "I know we've been trying for years now, but I feel like this time we will finally have an heir."

"It's been a long day… Should we maybe just wait until tomorrow?" Zuko looked away just for a moment. He tried to avoid looking her in the eyes. His guilt was tearing him up inside since he didn't want to admit that he was starting to have feelings for Katara. He even faked yawn.

"I don't think that's a good idea right now. The last time we waited a day, we didn't get pregnant." Mai said matter of factly. She pulled him closer by the waist and met him halfway to a kiss. They hovered close without touching their lips.

"But we haven't gotten pregnant on your schedule either. I don't mean to be mister pessimistic, but I just don't know if I'm in the mood tonight." Zuko was simply trying to stall her until she got too tired to bother him.

"Come on. Let's just try." She connected their lips, and Zuko could feel all her heart and passion. He just didn't know if he could reciprocate it, but the kiss felt amazing to the both of them. Mai didn't even seem to notice his hesitation. She broke away for a moment. "I know this is our time."

"Okay. Let's do this. We are going to have an heir." He said letting a genuine smile spread on his lips. They connected in a rushed, heated kiss. They pulled each other close as Zuko moved them to the bed.


End file.
